The experience of environmental governance is approached in Improving Global Environmental Governance from the unique perspective of actor configuration and embedded networks of actors, which are areas of emerging importance. The chapters look at existing Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) and the broader constellation of partially networked institutions to better understand the involvement of individual actors and how to deepen the networks that include them to generate more effective governance. The book covers a wide range of issued pertaining to environmental governance including trans-boundary air pollution, marine pollution, biodiversity and ozone depletion. It also examines partnerships as a hybrid case of emerging modes of environmental governance. These partnerships are a recent form of actor configuration that warrant attention for dealing with global environmental threats in order to better understand the full potential of actor configurations in the absence of state involvement. In order to test applicability to on-going but stalled processes, the book applies the approach to one of the most difficult issues we face: climate change. By addressing key questions in this important area, the book provides new perspectives in the nexus between agency and architecture in environmental governance in the twenty-first century.

The experience of environmental governance is approached in Improving Global Environmental Governance from the unique perspective of actor configuration and embedded networks of actors, which are areas of emerging importance. The chapters look at existing Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) and the broader constellation of partially networked institutions to better understand the involvement of individual actors and how to deepen the networks that include them to generate more effective governance. The book covers a wide range of issued pertaining to environmental governance including trans-boundary air pollution, marine pollution, biodiversity and ozone depletion. It also examines partnerships as a hybrid case of emerging modes of environmental governance. These partnerships are a recent form of actor configuration that warrant attention for dealing with global environmental threats in order to better understand the full potential of actor configurations in the absence of state involvement. In order to test applicability to on-going but stalled processes, the book applies the approach to one of the most difficult issues we face: climate change. By addressing key questions in this important area, the book provides new perspectives in the nexus between agency and architecture in environmental governance in the twenty-first century.

A detailed examination of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals and the shift in governance strategy they represent. In September 2015, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Sustainable Development Goals as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The Sustainable Development Goals built on and broadened the earlier Millennium Development Goals, but they also signaled a larger shift in governance strategies. The seventeen goals add detailed content to the concept of sustainable development, identify specific targets for each goal, and help frame a broader, more coherent, and transformative 2030 agenda. The Sustainable Development Goals aim to build a universal, integrated framework for action that reflects the economic, social, and planetary complexities of the twenty-first century. This book examines in detail the core characteristics of goal setting, asking when it is an appropriate governance strategy and how it differs from other approaches; analyzes the conditions under which a goal-oriented agenda can enable progress toward desired ends; and considers the practical challenges in implementation. Contributors Dora Almassy, Steinar Andresen, Noura Bakkour, Steven Bernstein, Frank Biermann, Thierry Giordano, Aarti Gupta, Joyeeta Gupta, Peter M. Haas, Masahiko Iguchi, Norichika Kanie, Rakhyun E. Kim Marcel Kok, Kanako Morita, Mans Nilsson, Laszlo Pinter, Michelle Scobie, Noriko Shimizu, Casey Stevens, Arild Underdal, Tancrede Voituriez, Takahiro Yamada, Oran R. Young